Review - NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Tzarine

I can't pretend to know how to pronounce the name of this product. However, I can give it a good, honest review.

I have wanted to try this eyeshadow duo for quite some time (I believe the yearning started when I first heard JuicyStar07 talking about it many moons ago - so yes, way back in the day). A few weeks ago, while in Sephora, I decided that there was no time like the present and picked it up.

This duo contains two colours (duh!) - a golden-toned champagne (slightly more yellow than Stila Kitten, but fairly similar in theory) and a smoky grey-toned dark blue with a hint of shimmer.

Having never tried NARS eyeshadows, I was a little surprised when I swatched it. After using Urban Decay, Stila and NYX, I expected it to be a soft, buttery formulation, but I actually found it to be somewhat dry. That being said, it still swatches quite beautifully.

On the eyes, I am fairly impressed. While the pigmentation is decent, it's not something to write home about. Honestly, looking at my eyeshadows, I'd have to say that the formulation of this particular duo greatly resembles that of Covergirl trios and certain MAC eyeshadows. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - but it's not really a great thing either.

Overall, I think this duo is gorgeous in colour and fairly unique (particularly the blue colour). If you strongly favour softer eyeshadows, this might not be the best product for you. I, however, don't mind it.

These duos retail for $39 CAD and can be picked up from Sephora or any NARS counter.

Review - NARS Pierre Hardy Blush in Boys Don't Cry

I'm here today to do a review on one of my new favorite blushes from the NARS Pierre Hardy collection.

The collection came out at the end of April and features two blushes as well as numerous nail polish duos. While I was quite attracted to a lot of the colours, this particular product was one that immediately drew me in.

"Boys Don't Cry" is a beautiful red-coral with a geometric design in gold overspray. I emphasize the word overspray - the gold on top of the product will come off (see image below).

If you'll excuse my vein-y-ness, the product swatches beautifully and blends out quite well, particularly with a brush. When unblended, the colour is a red-coral, but it pulls slightly more coral and less red when applied with a light hand to the cheeks. I have extremely fair skin, but I can make this work on me because of the blendability of the product.

Additionally, this blush is super-sized - it comes with 0.45 oz of product, compared to the 0.16 oz one would get in a regular NARS blush. This means you're getting about 3 and a half times the amount of product for $16 more.

The blush is the exact size as the Foreplay cheek palette.

If you're thinking about picking this one up, I'd get it sooner than later. This collection is limited edition (the nail duos for sure). It retails from Sephora for $48 CAD.

Tutorial: Beachy Waves!

This is a post I started about eight months ago and am finally finishing up. Enjoy!

I'm going to start off by saying that I have no idea how this will turn out, seeing as I've never done a hair tutorial on my blog before. However, I wanted to share this simple tutorial with you because I know I personally am a big fan of it.

Now I don't know about you, but I have never been able to get the "heatless beachy waves" hair style to look nice on me - my hair always frizzes up. This is my way of achieving that look, using heat because my hair has issues.

You're going to need:

Hairspray (I used the Herbal Essences Body Envy)

A flatiron (Mine is the Babyliss Nano-Titanium)

OPTIONAL: Beach Spray (this is the L'anza Healing Style Beach Spray).

You're going to want to start out au naturale, taking about an inch section of hair and twisting it around on itself.

Next, take a flat iron and run it over the twist until heated.

Repeat on the rest of the head. You should look like you have dreadlocks. Then just spray with 

hairspray, shake out and carry on with your day! I added a bit of beach spray to acheive the "piece-y" look.

Review - NARS Larger Than Life Eyeliner in Barrow Street

NARS recently came out with their summer collection (I believe midway through April) and when I was in Sephora the other day, I happened to spot this beauty and was immediately drawn to it because - let's face it - who doesn't love mint green?

The summer collection consisted of a mixture of bright and pastel hues. The eyeshadow duo and nail polish were particularly bold, but I found I was attracted to the eyeliner and lipgloss from the collection. Unfortunately, I was unable to purchase both.

This eyeliner is a beautiful, seafoam/mint green. While it seems unwearable, I have worn it in place of your typical black or brown eyeliner for a few days and have found it to be gorgeous.

The formulation is fairly creamy on the eye. While I think it could glide on a bit easier, it is still a fairly good texture. Additionally, the wear time of this product is really good - I would say about 8-10 hours on the top lashline, and 4-6 on the waterline.

When I first bought this liner I was concerned it would be limited edition. Thankfully, it isn't - but if it tells you anything about how much I like the product, had it been limited edition I would have bought at least two extras! If you're anywhere near a NARS counter or Sephora store, I highly recommend checking this (and the entire collection) out.

Available at Sephora stores, $28 CAD.

High End Makeup Wishlist - 08/18/12

I'm here to do an update on some products I would love to purchase but probably won't :)
*prices are in USD, not Canadian.*

1.) Benefit How to Look the Best at Everything set, $30

2.) Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 in Coral, $22.50

3.) Soap and Glory The Righteous Body Butter, $18

4.) Justin Bieber Girlfriend perfume, $49

5.) Vera Wang Princess perfume, $45-$60

6.) Philosophy Strawberry Italian Soda Lip Shine, $10

7.) Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine, $12 

That concludes my wishlist! If you have any questions on these products then let me know.

On a side note, I've decided that my project pan no longer includes a spending ban, because I'm more concerned about finishing products. That allows me to buy some of these things ;)

What's in my Everyday Makeup Bag!

So I have this giant makeup bag on my desk now that I like to keep my everyday products in. Since I've changed up my setup and now keep most of my makeup organized in a drawer, I like to keep my favorites in a bag so it's easy to access.

The bag itself is from Clinique and it was a free gift with purchase earlier last year.

Without any further ado, onto the makeup:

1.) Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream in Light/Medium (for a review, click here)

2.) Garnier Skin Renew Anti Dark Circle Roller in Light (review coming soon)

3.) L'oreal True Match Naturale Gentle Mineral Concealer in Light

4.) Bare Minerals Multi-tasking SPF 20 Concealer in Summer Bisque

5.) Bare Minerals Mineral Veil

6.) L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Concealer in Cool Fair/Light

7.) L'oreal HIP Cream Blush in Enamoured 

8.) Benefit Boxed Powder in Dandelion

9.) NARS Foreplay Cheek Palette

10.) MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Lightscapade

11.) Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand in Pearl

12.) Urban Decay Primer Potion

13.) Covergirl Shimmering Sands Trio (First colour is completely gone)

14.) Wet-n-Wild Colour Icon Trio in Walking on Eggshells

15.) MAC Omega Eyeshadow (for my brows)

16.) Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in RSVP

17.) Tweezerman Browmousse Brow Gel

18.) Maybelline the Falsies mascara

19.) CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Buffer

20.) Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Precious

21.) Butter London Lippy lip gloss in Trout Pout

So that's it! If you have any questions about these products or what I use them for then leave them down below  - I didn't include descriptions within the blog post because it would have been mighty long, considering my tendency to ramble on and on.

Obviously, I don't use every single one of these products on a daily basis. I also don't have any eyeliners in here because, quite honestly, I rarely use eyeliner.

What is your most used makeup product?